I’m warm enough without it,” I insisted. My frozen body would hate me in the morning, but it seemed like a better option than the alternative of sleeping cozied up to an attractive girl. I knew too well the punishment of being close to something you could never have.
“Wiggle over here, Sammy,” Nora called out playfully. “There's plenty of room next to me.”
“I don’t think anyone’s called me Sammy since kindergarten.”
“Well I think it’s cute,” Nora remarked. “I’m bringing it back.”
“I wish you wouldn’t.” I’d always hated that nickname.
“This sleeping pad is actually pretty impressive,” Nora announced. She twisted in her sleeping bag so she was facing me. “I mean, it’s no inflatable mattress, but it’ll do.”
“I can’t believe you actually packed one of those,” I snorted. I rolled around a bit. A tree root was jutting into my tailbone. What I wouldn’t do for an inflatable mattress right now.
“It was fine when we were driving,” she defended herself. “I plugged the air compressor into the cigarette lighter in the car. And then we slept in the back of the SUV with the seats folded down.”
“You two never considered what would happen when your car ran out of gas?”
“I don’t think either of us knew it would be so bad out here, too,” she said, her voice getting quiet and somber. “It made sense that the cities would be a mess, but I guess it was a little naive to think it would be any better out here.”
I sighed and looked at the tent ceiling. “I don’t think anyone could have imagined it would ever get this bad.”
+++++
CHAPTER SEVEN
In those days after my grandmother’s departure, life once again fell into a routine. We’d wake up, build a fire and eat whatever my father’s traps had caught during the night, take down our campsite and travel during the daylight hours, stopping only to hydrate and consult maps. When the sun came close to setting, we’d stop for the night. Our fathers had the task of setting up the tents while Nora and I gathered whatever dry wood we could find in the vicinity for that night’s fire. It became a kind of competition between the two of us – who could find the most wood, who could find the driest wood.
Despite my attempt to be nicer to Nora, I found moments when my annoyance got the best of me. And to her credit, Nora never backed down from a good verbal fight, particularly on the coldest days, when fuses were shorter and tempers flared. I was sure it was driving both of our dads crazy. It probably wouldn’t have surprised either of them if we had busted out with an “Are we there yet?”
When our dads crammed around the road maps and made plans for the next day they probably entertained the thought of leaving us both behind. We were all starting to get sick of so much time together with no one else to talk to. It was a never-ending road trip. I felt like we’d been walking forever, but we were still only in Montana. It seemed like we were crossing the entire country, not just a single state. Reaching Eden felt like an impossible task.
It had gotten late enough that we would soon be setting up camp for the night when we came across something I didn’t think I’d ever see again. Running water.
“What is this place?”
My father crouched beside me in the snow and peered into the small body of water. “It looks like a mineral spring. I can’t understand why it’s not frozen over though,” he said, thinking out loud.
Nora fell to her knees beside me and plunged her hands into the pool of water. The protest died in my throat when she appeared to be fine. Her gloves would be soaked through, but she’d be able to dry them over the fire we would build tonight.
“It’s warm.” Her voice was so quiet and softly reverent I almost didn’t hear it.
I pulled off my gloves and tentatively dipped my hands into the
“Wiggle over here, Sammy,” Nora called out playfully. “There's plenty of room next to me.”
“I don’t think anyone’s called me Sammy since kindergarten.”
“Well I think it’s cute,” Nora remarked. “I’m bringing it back.”
“I wish you wouldn’t.” I’d always hated that nickname.
“This sleeping pad is actually pretty impressive,” Nora announced. She twisted in her sleeping bag so she was facing me. “I mean, it’s no inflatable mattress, but it’ll do.”
“I can’t believe you actually packed one of those,” I snorted. I rolled around a bit. A tree root was jutting into my tailbone. What I wouldn’t do for an inflatable mattress right now.
“It was fine when we were driving,” she defended herself. “I plugged the air compressor into the cigarette lighter in the car. And then we slept in the back of the SUV with the seats folded down.”
“You two never considered what would happen when your car ran out of gas?”
“I don’t think either of us knew it would be so bad out here, too,” she said, her voice getting quiet and somber. “It made sense that the cities would be a mess, but I guess it was a little naive to think it would be any better out here.”
I sighed and looked at the tent ceiling. “I don’t think anyone could have imagined it would ever get this bad.”
+++++
CHAPTER SEVEN
In those days after my grandmother’s departure, life once again fell into a routine. We’d wake up, build a fire and eat whatever my father’s traps had caught during the night, take down our campsite and travel during the daylight hours, stopping only to hydrate and consult maps. When the sun came close to setting, we’d stop for the night. Our fathers had the task of setting up the tents while Nora and I gathered whatever dry wood we could find in the vicinity for that night’s fire. It became a kind of competition between the two of us – who could find the most wood, who could find the driest wood.
Despite my attempt to be nicer to Nora, I found moments when my annoyance got the best of me. And to her credit, Nora never backed down from a good verbal fight, particularly on the coldest days, when fuses were shorter and tempers flared. I was sure it was driving both of our dads crazy. It probably wouldn’t have surprised either of them if we had busted out with an “Are we there yet?”
When our dads crammed around the road maps and made plans for the next day they probably entertained the thought of leaving us both behind. We were all starting to get sick of so much time together with no one else to talk to. It was a never-ending road trip. I felt like we’d been walking forever, but we were still only in Montana. It seemed like we were crossing the entire country, not just a single state. Reaching Eden felt like an impossible task.
It had gotten late enough that we would soon be setting up camp for the night when we came across something I didn’t think I’d ever see again. Running water.
“What is this place?”
My father crouched beside me in the snow and peered into the small body of water. “It looks like a mineral spring. I can’t understand why it’s not frozen over though,” he said, thinking out loud.
Nora fell to her knees beside me and plunged her hands into the pool of water. The protest died in my throat when she appeared to be fine. Her gloves would be soaked through, but she’d be able to dry them over the fire we would build tonight.
“It’s warm.” Her voice was so quiet and softly reverent I almost didn’t hear it.
I pulled off my gloves and tentatively dipped my hands into the
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